According to Stein, the cap is moving from $58.6 million up to $63.2 million, a bump of $4.6M. The tax is going up even more, from $71.7M up to $77M, a $5.3M increase. To put that in perspective, last summer the NBA rose the cap by only $0.7 million and the tax by $1.4 mill.

So this obviously gives every team in the NBA more wiggle room, the Celtics included.

The Cs currently have about $49 million in salary on the books for 2014-15, including Joel Anthony and Phil Pressey (who has an option for next year). That does not include their two first round draft picks, who will make approximately $3.7 million (the 6th pick) and $1.5 million (the 17th pick) next year. That bumps the Celts to around $54.2 million in commitments, meaning that they have about $9 million in cap space now instead of a little more than $4 million before the increase.

This is potentially huge if the Celtics want to throw their hat in the ring for an unrestricted free agent like Gordon Hayward. Now all the Celtics would need to do to sign a $15 million player (not saying that's Hayward) is move Brandon Bass or Jeff Green. Before this hike, they likely would have needed to move both of these guys.

The tax number is also significant if the Celtics really go all-in and try to bring in a star (Kevin Love), or two (Carmelo?). Suddenly the Celtics have $24 million (after their draft picks) to work with -- allowing them to absorb two large salaries and still stay under the tax (probably with one move, like dumping Bass or Green, necessary).

This news does not guarantee the Celtics will be active this summer, but it does allow more flexibility for Danny Ainge to get creative. A summer with a lot of options now has even more for Boston.